Rory McIlroy, two Irelands and a complicated Open homecoming

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- To see the monstrous walls that separate Belfast's people by political and religious beliefs is to understand that more than 20 years after the official end of the conflict known as the Troubles, Rory McIlroy's country remains a divided land.

The locals call these peace walls, but it is hard for a visitor not to think of war when standing next to them.

On a rare sunshiny morning in the capital of Northern Ireland, 60 miles south of Royal Portrush and the scene of the first version of The Open to be held in this nation in 68 years, children in a Protestant neighborhood played in a yard directly across from the Cupar Way barrier, 30 feet high, that prevents Catholic…